'Feel the Bern': Bernie Sanders underwear debuts

Millions of voters have taken Bernie Sanders to their hearts. Now they can take him to their nether regions.

Yup. A trio of Vermont entrepreneurs in the state's capital, Montpelier, are now selling underwear featuring a cartoon-like image of the U.S. senator and Democratic presidential candidate.

The derriere-adorning drawing is accompanied by the words "Feel the Bern." And just like the White House hopeful told talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres, they reflect his preference for briefs over boxers.

"The idea was born from the Saturday Night Live skit with Larry David impersonating Bernie Sanders," Todd Bailey, one of the partners who created the tighty whities, told USA TODAY.

In the skit, an arm-waving David-as-Sanders complains that he owns only one pair of underwear. "Some of these billionaires, they've got three, four pairs!" he wails.

The briefs, which come in men and women's versions, can be ordered over the Internet and cost a somewhat hefty $15 per pair (plus shipping and handling), perhaps getting away from the man-of-the-people ethos of the self-declared Democratic socialist. However, each pair is individually silk-screened by a local firm, and 10% of the proceeds will go to the Yellow Ribbon Fund, a charity that supports injured servicemembers.

Bailey's colleague Alexandra MacLean told the local New England Cable Network that sales are strong. Orders are coming in from across the country, although most are from the Northeast, where Sanders is in a neck-and-neck race with Hillary Clinton in the key New Hampshire primary. Bailey, MacLean and the third partner, Nick Sherman, work at local lobbying firm KSE Partners.

Bailey, meanwhile, is quick to point out that the intimate attire should not be seen as an insult to the Brooklyn-born politician, saying that he and his colleagues are longtime fans.

"Every one of us has probably voted for Bernie in every election that he has run for in the state of Vermont," he told USA TODAY, "and we continue to be supporters of what he's doing."

Fortunately for the underwear entrepreneurs, Sanders has embraced the apparel. "It cracks me up, it's unbelievable, cracks me up," he told local TV station WCAX on Tuesday.

"I think he is enjoying not only Bernie's Briefs," Bailey told USA TODAY, "but all of the products that have been spawned from his candidacy."